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January 13, 2004 - 8,783 subscribers
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Text of Final (1/12/04) FASB Staff Position on Accounting for Effect of Medicare Bill (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "An entity that sponsors a postretirement health care plan that provides pr*scription drug benefits and elects the deferral provided by this FSP should disclose in annual or interim financial statements (a) the existence of the Act and the fact that, in accordance with this FSP, any measures of the APBO or net periodic postretirement benefit cost in the financial statements or accompanying notes do not reflect the effects of the Act on the plan and ..." (Financial Accounting Standards Board)
The Hidden Bite of Retiree Healthcare Costs
Excerpt: "Net liabilities for 'other post-retirement employee benefits' (OPED) -- mainly health insurance but also possibly dental, vision, life insurance, and other promised benefits -- are substantial. And for many companies, they may pose more of a financial drain than pensions." (Business Week)
N.J. Grants Benefits to Same-Sex Partners
Excerpt: "Same-sex partners in New Jersey have been granted unprecedented legal, health care and financial rights under a new bill, though the measure stops short of authorizing g*y marriage.... The law will not force private businesses to offer health coverage to same-sex partners of employees but does require insurance companies to make it available." (AP via Washington Post)
Sen. Clinton Proposes Health Care System
Excerpt: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to focus this year on improving health care, beginning with a proposal designed to modernize the sharing of medical information nationwide." (AP via Yahoo! News)
Working Paper: Does the Length of Maternity Leave Affect Maternal Health?
Excerpt: "[R]eturning to work later may reduce the number or frequency of depressive symptoms, but the length of time before returning to work is not associated with a lower probability of being a likely case of clinical depression. Similarly, there is little evidence that longer maternity leave impacts physical and mental health as measured by frequent outpatient visits during the first six months after childbirth." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Bookmark: State Family and Medical Leave Laws
Excerpt: "The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 requires employers of 50 or more employees to give up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to employees for a serious illness or to care for a child, spouse or parent. Many states -- both before and since the federal act -- have passed similar protections that often apply more workers than the federal law, differ in the terms of unpaid leave that are required, and provide more specific or additional types of unpaid leave." (National Conference of State Legislatures)
Nearly Three-Quarters of Illinois Residents Support Illinois Governor's Drug Reimportation Plan
Excerpt: "Almost three-quarters of Illinois residents support Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) plan to reimport lower-cost, U.S.-manufactured pr*scription drugs from Canada for state employees and retirees, according to a poll of state residents, Copley News/Peoria Journal Star reports ..." (KaiserNetwork.org)
Health Care Cost Containment Ideas for State Legislatures
Excerpt: "Following is a list of legislative ideas that states have either considered or passed into law. This list of ideas and descriptions was compiled as a project of NCSL's Standing Committee on Health for state legislators to consider as they try to address the problems of rising health care and health insurance costs. Some of these ideas have been enacted and shown to reduce costs; others have not." (National Conference of State Legislatures)
Overview: HIPAA Privacy Implementation Deadline Looms for 'Small Health Plans'
Excerpt: "The deadline for 'small health plans' to comply with the health privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is April 14, 2004." (Faegre & Benson LLP)
Overview: Complexity Surrounds Question of Which Employers Are Regulated by HIPAA
Originally published June 2003. Excerpt: "If employers receive PHI from their group health plans, they must formalize safeguards to ensure it's used only for the purpose of running the plan." (Report on Patient Privacy via AISHealth.com)
New York 'Pay or Play' Proposal Would Tax Businesses That Do Not Provide Health Insurance
Excerpt: "Two powerful interest groups, health workers and hospitals, are proposing an audacious and costly effort by New York State to cover one million people without health insurance and modernize hospitals. The proposal would be financed by a tax on businesses that do not insure their workers and by a billion-dollar state bond act." (New York Times; one-time registration required)
Links to Items on Executive Comp, Benefits in General
Kaiser Aluminum Seeks Bankruptcy Court Permission to End Benefit Plans
Excerpt: "Kaiser Aluminum Corp. asked a federal bankruptcy court Monday for relief from obligations to pay medical and life insurance for thousands of retirees and dependents and to end its underfunded pension plans." (AP via Washington Post)
NACD Releases Blue Ribbon Report on Executive Compensation and Role of Compensation Committee (PDF)
5 pages. Excerpt: "The National Association of Corporate Directors has released a Blue Ribbon Report ... [which] provides recommended best practices regarding a variety of issues related to executive pay ... The Report is intended to assist compensation committees in establishing a set of formal principles to guide their deliberations related to executive compensation." (Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc.)
Overview: NYSE Issues FAQs on Shareholder Approval of Equity Compensation Plans
6 pages. (Hogan & Hartson LLP via Financial Executives International)
Working Paper: Comparing Options, Restricted Stock, and Cash for Employees Below the Executive Ranks
Excerpt: "Using a detailed data set of employee stock option grants, we compare observed stock-option-based pay plans to hypothetical cash-only or restricted-stock-based plans. We make a variety of assumptions regarding the possible benefits of options relative to cash or stock, and then use observed option grants to make inferences regarding firms' decisions to issue options to lower-level employees." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Working Paper: Why Do Some Firms Give Stock Options to All Employees?
Excerpt: "Many firms issue stock options to all employees. We consider three potential economic justifications for this practice: providing incentives to employees, inducing employees to sort, and helping firms retain employees. We gather data on firms' stock option grants to middle managers from three distinct sources, and use two methods to assess which theories appear to explain observed granting behavior." (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Newly Posted Events
The State of National Health Care Spending
Nationwide on January 8, 2004
presented by Kaiser Family Foundation
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in North Dakota on March 25, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Michigan on February 3, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advance Seminar
in Illinois on March 9, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in California on February 3, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminars
in Alabama on March 4, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Texas on March 25, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Ohio on February 12, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Michigan on February 5, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Illinois on March 2, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in District of Columbia on March 9, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Arizona on February 17, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Texas on March 23, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Oklahoma on February 1, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in New Jersey on February 26, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Kansas on February 12, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Florida on March 16, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Arkansas on March 18, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Utah on March 11, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Oklahoma on February 12, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in North Carolina on March 23, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Kentucky on February 1, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Florida on March 18, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Basic and Advanced Seminar
in California on March 23, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Vermont on February 26, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Pennsylvania on February 3, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in North Dakota on February 19, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Louisiana on March 16, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Georgia on March 2, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in California on March 25, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Virginia on March 25, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRA Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Pennsylvania on February 5, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in North Dakota on February 17, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Maryland on March 11, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminars
in Illinois on March 11, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in California on February 19, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Tennessee on March 2, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in North Dakota on March 23, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Massachusetts on February 24, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Illinois on February 3, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in California on February 5, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
IRAs Basic and Advanced Seminar
in Tennessee on March 4, 2004
presented by BISYS Retirement Services
Newly Posted Press Releases
Mutual Funds Focus of February 11 NAGDCAST
(National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators, Inc. - NAGDCA)
GILSBAR Named Administrator for Analytic Stress Relieving Health Plan
(Gilsbar, Inc.)
Newly Posted or Renewed Job Openings
Employee Benefits Consultant
for Plante & Moran, PLLC
in MI
ERISA Attorney
for Marvel Consultants, Inc.
in OH
Relationship Manager/Sales Support
for Transamerica Retirement Services
in NJ
ERISA Attorney
for The412iCompany
in WA
Regional Vice President - Retail Sales
for BISYS Retirement Services
in CA
Policy/Negotiations Project Manager
for UC Office of the President
in CA
Pension Administrator
for Priority Pension Services, Inc.
in CA
Senior Client Services Consultant
for Charles Schwab
in OH
RVP - Employee Benefits
for CUNA Mutual Group
in ALL STATES
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